Kersey's Success A Nice Surprise For Portland

DAVID TEEL

Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler have been erratic at best. Kevin Duckworth and Wayne Cooper have been injured. Buck Williams is a tireless rebounder, but can't carry a team offensively.

How, then, did the Portland Trail Blazers land unexpectedly in the NBA Finals? Well, the Lakers' collapse didn't hurt. But the one player most responsible is Jerome Kersey, the first Virginia native since Ralph Sampson in 1986 to start in the NBA Finals.

Kersey hails from Clarksville, a three-traffic light hamlet between South Hill and South Boston on the endless Route 58 corridor in southern Virginia. He was shy and frail as a student - and basketball player - at Bluestone High.

"Those traits caused him not to be highly recruited," said Lindell Palmer, then an assistant coach at Bluestone. "He wasn't a flashy type player. He came in, got the job done and left. Others come in and let the world know they're here. If someone was to say he did something great, Jerome would just give them that boyish grin and go on."

Only the frailty disappeared during Kersey's four years at Longwood College in Farmville.

"He was shy and timid," said Linda Luther, the wife of Longwood Coach Cal Luther, who is overseas coaching the Egyptian National Team. "When we came to Longwood, Jerome had just finished his freshman year, and Cal asked him to come back to campus for a weekend to show some recruits around. We didn't know Jerome didn't have a car. But Jerome didn't say a word and had his grandmother and grandfather drive him up here for the weekend."

Kersey sprouted to 6-foot-7 at Longwood and became a terror inside, averaging 14.2 rebounds as a senior in 1984, tops in NCAA Division II. He averaged 19.6 points and shot 52.1 percent from the field.

"Still, no one imagined he could excel to the point he has now," Palmer said.

NBA superscout Marty Blake didn't even invite Kersey to the 1984 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a showcase for marginal pro prospects. But when one invitee became ill, Blake acquiesced to Cal Luther's pleas.

"Cal knew Jerome wouldn't have any money, so he gave him $60," Linda Luther said. "When he came back to Longwood, Jerome gave the $60 back and said the tournament had paid for everything and given him some extra money. Other people wouldn't have given the $60 back, but that's just the type of person Jerome is. Cal was so proud of how Jerome had played, he told him to keep the money."

The Trail Blazers were equally impressed. Almost three months later, they drafted Kersey in the second round. Kersey was a reserve for three seasons before becoming a starter at forward in 1988.

But his greatest publicity outside the Pacific Northwest came at the 1988 All-Star Game, where he finished second to Michael Jordan in the slam dunk contest. Kersey averaged 20 points a game in the '88 and '89 playoffs, but the Blazers went out meekly in the first round each season.

Not this season. Portland eliminated Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix to reach the Finals. Entering Thursday night's Game 2 against the Pistons, Kersey led the Blazers with a 21-point playoff scoring average.

Kersey has played the lead role in the two most crucial sequences of Portland's playoff drive. With the Blazers and Spurs tied at 103 in the final minute of overtime in Game 7, Kersey made an acrobatic save of an errant pass thrown by San Antonio's Rod Strickland. While tumbling over a sea of photographers, Kersey had the presence to heave the ball to a wide-open Drexler, who converted the winning basket.

The Blazers trailed the Suns by one in the final minute of their Game 6 when Kersey blocked a Jeff Hornacek layup, raced down the floor and finished a Portland fast break for the decisive points.

Those two plays represent Kersey and Portland at their best. He is an athletic small forward who also can rebound and block shots. The 19-foot range on Kersey's jumper is a bonus for a team that prefers transition and bogs down in a half-court offense.

Still, Kersey and Portland must improve to upset Detroit. Kersey scored 12 points in the first quarter of Game 1, only six in the final three as Portland lost 105-99. With Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars lighting up Drexler and Porter, Kersey must carry a heavier offensive load.

The odds aren't good, but regardless of the results, Kersey can be expected to swing through Farmville during the offseason to visit the Luthers. He'll also stop in Richmond to hang out with former Longwood teammate Lonnie Lewis.

"He usually brings Cal a Blazers warm-up suit or bag," Linda Luther said. "Cal has never seen him play in the NBA. Jerome has offered to fly him places, but Cal always seems to have a conflict. This year the Lancer Club went up to see him play against the Bullets, but Cal couldn't go because he'd just had hernia surgery. ...

"Cal didn't know Jerome was in the Finals until he called me last week. He told me to tape all the games. They're still fairly close. They talk on the phone a few times a year, and when Jerome gets back around here, he's shy, just like he always was. He's still just Jerome."